tomarkot

We couldn’t resist using our soon-to-expire Delta complimentary companion ticket for a holiday visit to the Big Apple. The reverberation of Frank Sinatra’s “New York, New York” swirling around in our heads was enticing us. (They even knew the song in Budapest, Hungary!) “I want to be a part of it, New York, New York!” We’ll call our trip a tribute to Frank’s 100th!

With schedules arranged and pre-trip stuff completed, we set out for our extended week-end jaunt to NYC, arriving early for our flight. We had plenty of time for McD’s breakfast prior to the 9:05 boarding.

Fortunate to have a clear day for flying. Smooth flight, after a several minute wait for take-off. Flight left 10 minutes late, but arrived about 15 minutes early; lots of wind as we landed; took extra time on tarmac to get to our West Jet gate; figure full 2 hours time frame to arrive in NYC. Not bad!

After flight, arriving LGA at 11:30, we caught a taxi to SOFITEL on 44th St.
Check in at the FRENCH Sofitel on 44th St. was smooth. Nice to hear French “Bonjour”!
Comfortable room #1110; a view to a pleasant little 911 Memorial Park across 45th.

Then. . .we’re off toward Rockefeller Center, stopping for lunch en route. Nice walk even though weather turned a bit cloudy. Tom is happy that Margie encouraged him to wear his top coat over his sport coat, mostly because of the wind.

We found a decent lunch stop thanks to a sign carrying guy who was advertising for the BRITISH Pub: Cock and Bull @ 23 W. 45 St. Good fish and chips and a beer. What else in a British Pub? ($25 plus $5 tip)
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1st Day Exploration: Before visiting Rockefeller Center itself, we detoured to explore Saks Fifth Ave. The building itself was festively decorated for the season with evergreens, enhanced with thousands of white lights woven in between, covering much of the façade. The crowd attractions were the many store windows with the theme of man-made natural wonders that were artistically and lavishly decorated in all white, ice-like motif with some life-size figurines. Even the Eiffel Tower was a feature in one window, as were the Great Wall of China and the Great Barrier Reef. An aisle way enclosed with a railing was convenient for walking leisurely and stopping in front of the many windows to admire and take pics, without interfering with pedestrian traffic. What an outstanding artistic display!

Of course, no visit to Saks would be complete without seeing the beautifully decorated interior, also with a white theme. However, their “sale” items in Saks were still fairly pricey, and our intent in NYC wasn’t to do shopping.

In the area, and all around Manhattan, a note of interest was the presence of the Salvation Army red pails at the center of each block with attention demanded via some upbeat music. The traditionally dressed collectors danced and rang the traditional bell. (On cold days, it might serve them well to keep warm.) In addition, a homeless advocate was collecting money. Later at the Palace, donations were being collected for some AIDS charity for Broadway actors. Collections for charitable organizations were ongoing in many NYC places we visited.

St Patrick Cathedral was our next stop. The white limestone exterior, which had been cleaned since we last visited in the spring of 2014, really allowed the detailing to stand out. Although we would be returning on Sunday, we wanted to enjoy the interior when it would be less crowded. The renovation is nearly complete. Major scaffolding is down, but workers were still busy finishing one interior side.

Although there were a number of visitors, we found it fairly easy to walk around the back of the main altar to the many side altars, and even around the crèche. We suspected that as the weekend approached, the crowds would multiply. St. Patrick’s building looked remarkably beautiful with the major refurbishing and exterior cleaning from years of pollution. Perhaps the visit of Pope Francis hastened the completion a bit!

Then it was onward to Rockefeller Center, again to enjoy all the lights and decorations, and the surrounding shops between 49th to 51st streets. The tree in Rock Center looked great, as usual. Amazing that we had watched the lighting of the tree on NBC from our Cincinnati home the evening previous to our trip and were present 24 hours later! Watching the skaters was fun. After walking around for a while, we decided to hit the Starbucks for cappuccino in the lower level of the building. It was a bit of a challenge to secure one of the hard-to-find chairs, as many others, like us, were relaxing after much walking and standing.

Dinner reservations were booked @ Del Frisco’s Grille, 51st St. for 5:00. Good reviews and awareness of our theatre tickets for 7:00 PM influenced our choice. And we liked it a lot…not overly-busy till about 5:30. We were seated at a nice booth, and immediately relaxed with drinks. For our meal, it was a good decision to share a “shaved steak” sandwich, which turned out to be very large, and was accompanied by delicious fries. Tab for the meal, plus drinks, dessert and cappuccinos was $74 plus $15 tip. Hey! We’re in NYC! Del Frisco’s would be a repeat restaurant at Rockefeller…but arrive before 5:30.

We relaxed with dinner a longer time than intended, so decided to catch a taxi to the Palace Theater at 1564 Broadway. Great idea to hail a taxi, even with the traffic. We arrived in perfect time as the theater doors were opening, a worthwhile $9.

7PM “An American in Paris” at the Palace Theater. It was easy for us to take an imaginary trip to FRANCE, PARIS no less. We very much enjoyed the story line but were mostly impressed by the staging and the dancing. Great production, and our seats were unusual in that they were called side orchestra, but were in a small section set higher than the orchestra floor, giving us a perfect view. (And these were discount tickets!) Robert Fairchild, the lead, stole the show. Think a contemporary Gene Kelley. He was that good!

Post-theatre: How could we avoid the lights of Times Square? We walked to our hotel via Broadway and up 44th, stopping for a night-cap at the Algonquin Hotel. Having previously stayed there, we had met the famous Matilda, the cat. Unfortunately she was sleeping in her “office” so we missed her. But the lobby bar was very relaxing! Back at the Sofitel by 11 pm…a long day but fun and enriching!

FRIDAY: DECEMBER 4, 2015

We had set the alarm for 6:30. . .how did it come so quickly? We showered and walked a short distance toward 6th Ave., just past the Algonquin Hotel, to eat at the RED FLAME. This is an old fav of ours, a typical family-run diner. But it has been remodeled since our last visits, and the prices have been upgraded, as well. It’s now approximately $10 for a traditional breakfast, still a good deal for NYC. It’s a pay at the door as you leave arrangement, and still crowded after 8:30. We remembered to arrive early to avoid a wait.

We often like to stay in the area of 44th or 45th Streets as we can walk easily to 5th and 6th, and also walk to many theatres. Our room at the Sofitel was on the back side facing 45th St. which we could see from our window. The front doorman on 44th St. confirmed Tom’s idea that we could cut through the Sofitel Bar to 45th and then continue through the small Memorial Plaza Park to 46th. From there, it was an easy few blocks to 5th Ave. and Rockefeller Plaza.

We had some time before heading to Radio City Music Hall for the Rockette’s 1 pm show. Although we’ve seen this production a couple of times, we feel like big kids in NYC and look forward to the show. The gorgeous interior of Radio City Music Hall, the huge organ which entertains before the performance, and the professionalism of the production make it a treat for us.

Thinking that we had quite a while before the show, it was amazing how fast time passed just milling around a few side streets and window shopping on 5th Ave. Our original plan was to have a light lunch before the 1 PM show, but our more than ample Red Flame breakfast caused a change to a Starbucks’ cappuccino and croissant. We shared a table with two women from the Kent area of GREAT BRITAIN. Lunch at Bill’s Bar and Burgers would have to wait until another visit.

A short walk had us perfectly timed for the 12:30 entry to Radio City Music Hall. Although we’ve experienced the entry to be very organized in the past, this year, with the heightened security awareness, the entry process involved ticket/bag checking (with a drum stick); then an open coat and spread arms checking as an employee did the body scan with a hand-held metal detector. A trained work dog greeted visitors in an effort to sniff out explosives. Wow…San Bernardino terror incident was only 2 days ago. . .so the high alert is understandable! But with all that, the large crowds were managed in an efficient way.

The show lasted an hour and a half and was as good as ever. The Rockettes dancing was professional throughout. Mostly the same themes of Santa in 3-D riding around NYC; then the Rockettes dancing on the sightseeing bus with their synchronized routine; the multiplication of Santa Clauses routine, the two brothers Dan and Patrick wondering how Santa can be real, leading to the spirit of Christmas giving after some magic of the elves dancers and toys; the Nutcracker scene; finally wrapping up with the Christian meaning of Christmas with the manger tableau and the three Magi. Each year there is are some different arrangements. Lots of great costuming and stage lights.

Wonderful show but, as one might expect, lots of kids and noise. Mid-performance, a few parents crawled over others to take kids out, including one in our aisle. Everyone had to get up to let them out. Not exactly symphony-opera audience behavior! But, overall, the awesomeness of the hall, the organ music, the orchestra, the staging, and most of all the professional dancers made it thoroughly enjoyable. Never tire of the toy soldiers’ routine! (Again, discount tickets online.)

Following the performance, we caught a taxi to The Morgan Library and Museum located on Madison @ 36th street (about $9). (Entrance fee: $12.) By now, we wanted a light lunch, and thought that the Library Café would be convenient. It turned out to be very slow service and not on our list for a repeat. But it served the purpose. We shared a sandwich, which was served with some greens, and one beer. Total: $22.

We were most interested in the actual reception room, gallery, and library of John Pierpont Morgan, the father of J.P. Morgan. But an unexpected bonus was an exhibition “Between Two Wars” featuring Ernest Hemingway.

After an initial visit to the opulent Morgan Library rooms, we returned to the reception area, learning that they did have complimentary audio headsets. We found these to be valuable for a re-visit
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We first visited Morgan’s vaulted ceiling lobby/reception room with its rotunda. The area featured mosaic walls, marbled columns, and exquisite painted ceilings.

From there we visited the library containing hundreds of precious books, kept in floor to ceiling 30 ft. high intricately-carved walnut bookcases. The library contains three of the five original Gutenburg bibles, with one on display. Also on display was the original manuscript of “Alice in Wonderland” (not really legible).
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A third impressive room was the gallery of fine paintings. In summary, the J. Pierpont Morgan (the father of J.P. Morgan) complex was a first-class museum in its own right. In 1936, J. P. Morgan had the library converted into a public institution. In 1966, it was designated a National Historic Landmark. It is a major exhibition venue for art, literature, and music, providing many cultural programs throughout the year. If only we lived closer to NYC!

Following that part of the museum, we enjoyed the extensive special exhibit of Ernest Hemingway: “Between Two Wars”. And, in addition to Hemingway, we briefly took in the special Matisse exhibit of his book illustrations. We hadn’t realized that Matisse had spent a considerable number of years involved in designing art involved in aspects of book publishing.

By then, we had again exceeded our two-hour goal for museum visits, having stood and walked from about 3:30 to 6:15. Tom made a visit to the Gift Shop to purchase a book and DVD of J. Pierpont Morgan while Margie enjoyed the lobby from the comfort of a bench.

We were more than ready to have a nice meal at the Toledo Restaurant which Margie had planned as a short walk on 36th just shy of 5th Street. We had a 6:30 reservation. The Toledo was a rather elegant, very SPANISH, restaurant which brought back pleasant memories of our visit to Spain. The main front room was comfortably quiet. Normally, we like to be seated in a room with other diners. But the second room had a couple of lively tables, and at this point, the elegance and quiet of the main room of the Toledo appealed to us. It was like our private dining room and was wonderful.

Viva Espana! Tom had Estrella Galicia Beer; Margie had a Rioja Spanish wine. Entrees: Tom had phenomenal paella marinera, with a general amount of seafood: lobster, shrimp, scallops, clams, mussels. Margie chose the milk fed veal a la Toledo with truffle sauce and mushrooms. Both were served with very light and fluffy saffron rice as well as some very thin fried potato slices. We leisurely savored those scrumptious dinners, and capped the meal with coffee-too full for dessert.

Again, we departed from our original plan which was to walk a few more blocks down to 34th to see the Macy’s windows. And, yes, there was Grand Central Terminal in the vicinity. We also wanted to take in more of the lights on the major department stores. Too many things to do! After more consideration, the light extravaganza won out. We hailed a taxi to head north.

The driver turned out to be a really good-natured guy, so we asked him to give us a nighttime light show tour. As we traveled up 6th Ave. to Central Park and then down 5th Ave., the driver, Hector Lynch, would slow down where appropriate, according to traffic, and give some commentary about many of the buildings, pausing occasionally for us to snap a pic. Bergdorf Goodman was outstanding with its many Swarovski crystals. That and the Saks windows took the prizes as our favorites!

Witnessing the beautiful lights on so many facades never gets old. And after all the walking and standing of the day, the taxi was the perfect idea. Gads! Wealth and beauty exude! Our taxi driver was cool as he and Tom discussed football while he pointed out the sights along the way.
We exited the taxi on 45th, entering our Sofitel through the bar, Gaby’s. (That was a $20. well spent!!) We noticed a Pret a’ Manger bakery two doors down from our 45th Ave. Sofitel entrance, very convenient for tomorrow’s petit dejeuner.

The Sofitel lobby was too beautiful to pass up, so we sat for a few minutes before going to our comfortable Room 1110 around 10 pm for 11 pm snooze. We are beat!!! But another wonderful day!

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 4

Up at 7:30; it seems too early even after 8 hours of snooze. Some complimentary Sofitel coffee and a Pret a’ Manger croissant in the room serve to get us going in the AM!

This was Museum Day. Normally, December in NYC is not warm, so we planned more indoor activities. However, we certainly weren’t complaining about blue skies, sunshine, and unseasonably warm temps
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We caught a taxi to our first destination, the Sabarsky Café, a Viennese café, part of the Neue Galerie. Arriving just shy of 10:00, we were happy to be seated with no wait, although the café was near capacity. Margie, especially, wanted to enjoy a meal here as it is a classy AUSTRIAN-GERMAN establishment. Our table was near the “dessert mantle”. We were promptly waited on by Robin, who said he was born in Germany and lived there until age 7. His family has now moved back to Germany. The manager of Sabarsky’s is “Gerhard”.

Tom ordered “Spiegeleier mit Schinken” (Bavarian Ham & Eggs). Margie had “Marillenpalats” (Crepes with apricot confiture). We ordered “regular coffee”. And was it strong!!! We learned that it was two shots of espresso! Only too late did we learn that they also had “Vien Melange”, a Viennese coffee topped with whipped cream. That would have been our choice.

We enjoyed the experience of dining in this Viennese environment. Although we weren’t seated beside a window, we could enjoy the view of Central Park from a distance. It was another great day for the bikers, runners, and walkers to enjoy. Upon leaving the restaurant, we were glad that we had arrived earlier as there was a long waiting line.

The Neue Galerie, which focuses on AUSTRIAN-GERMAN art from about 1890-1940, opened at 11 am ($10 ea). One motivation for our visit was to view the Gustav Klimt’s painting of the “Woman in Gold”, featured in the movie of the same name. We appreciated the setting in Vienna, Austria where we had visited this past September. The painting was indeed worth viewing and was the centerpiece in the museum. We learned and witnessed how the artist camouflaged Adele’s hands, which she did not want displayed, with gold, and wove her initials in the bottom left of the painting.

The museum contained quite a few other famous paintings, plus sculptures, crystal and other decorative arts, all of German and Austrian origin.

Having just visited Berlin in September, we were interested in the Berlin exhibit. It focused on the time between world wars when Germany was in its first Reich with the Weimar Republic attempting to hold a democratic Germany in place.

The exhibit highlighted the emergence of Berlin as one of Europe’s great cities as it recovered following World War I. Interesting that a traffic light was mounted in the hall, symbolic of the Potsdamer Platz which was the first European city to install one because of its heavy congestion. Having stayed right at the Potsdamer Platz, the exhibit held heightened interest for us.

There was a continuous running silent film detailing the changing history of Berlin through the ravages of WWI, to the “high society” which developed post war, to the decline of the Nazi years.
Although we really enjoyed the museum, we were aware of the two hour max for museum standing and wondering….Ugh!

Our original plan was to walk a couple of blocks south to the Met to view the Christmas tree and the Impressionist Gallery. But never having visited the Guggenheim Museum, we again departed from our plan and walked 2-3 blocks north to this uniquely designed building by Frank Lloyd Wright.

We knew that the Guggenheim concentrated on mostly modern art, not usually our favorite, but the design of the building fascinated us. Entry was $34 and included an audio set. Round and round we walked the rotunda…Alberto Burri, Vasily Kandinsky, with a pleasant discovery of earlier works of several impressionists.

We were ready for a light bite for lunch, and headed to the 3rd level Café overlooking the Jackie Onasis Kennedy Reservoir in Central Park. Delightful view! A beautiful weather day! A shared wrap and drinks made it a perfect rest and re-energize spot!

Following that break in the cafe, we headed south on 5th toward the Met. Since the weather has been exceptional in NYC, viewing Central Park with all the activity was a great sight. It’s hard to believe that one can completely escape the activity and noise of Manhattan’s 22 ½ sq. miles by retreating to Central Park’s 2 1/2 mile by ½ mile green area.

On this beautiful day we couldn’t resist a walk in Central Park in an area which we do not normally visit. On our walk we spotted a huge hawk, and as we were admiring him, we met a local lady who filled us in on “Pale Male”, marked by a red feather in his tail. Apparently, locals keep track of this popular hawk and have a litany of names of his mates over the years. He’s caused ongoing controversy regarding the protection of the bird population. This lady was one of a few other New Yorkers that we met who talked about waiting for discount tickets to Broadway plays. We agreed. That’s why “Hamilton” will have to wait for a future visit!

Off to the Met (Met Museum of Art) as Margie really wanted to view the Christmas tree and decorations. At this point, we did not have time to visit any galleries, as we had a 5:15 dinner reservation. With a donation of $10, we were permitted to view the Christmas tree display. Originally, Margie had wanted to visit the Impressionist Gallery, but was satisfied that we had viewed a few Impressionists’ paintings in the Guggenheim. Gobs of people were at the Met, with the front steps a fairly popular gathering spot.

We hailed a cab to Fiorello’s ITALIAN Restaurant, convenient to the Lincoln Center, where we had tickets for the 8 PM performance of “The King and I”. Our late lite lunch at the Guggenheim Gallery, and especially Tom’s large pretzel purchased from a street vendor, left us with limited appetites. At least we knew better than to arrive at Fiorella’s without reservations, as the restaurant was packed. But we were promptly seated, albeit along the long front window with tables nestled so close that encouraged visiting with your table neighbors.

We began with our typical beer for Tom and vina rosa for Margie. Although their Italian menu is wide and looked delicious, the thin crusted pizza topped with shortribs (rare) and tomatoes, and, of course, cheese, was about the perfect amount for dinner. We succumbed to their cheesecake with strawberries, topped with chocolate, and ended with coffee. ($110 total with tip). But we’re in NYC!
Seated beside us on one side was a table of four Italians, two of whom were born in Italy. On the opposite were two women from Israel. We had friendly, interesting conversations with neighbors on both sides.

Fully satisfied with our meal at Fiorella’s, we walked across Columbus Ave. and Broadway to the 65th street entrance to the Lincoln Center where the Vivian Beaumont Theatre is located. “The King and I” with Kelli O’Hara was 3 hours long, ending at 11 PM.

We agreed that the play had amazing staging, and Kelli O’Hara was outstanding, as usual. She is really an icon on Broadway. Overall, we might have had higher expectations, having been wowed by “South Pacific”. But the performance was certainly wonderful! And we felt carried away to SIAM, present day THAILAND!

We exited from the Main Met Entrance, along with hundreds of other theatre goers. We needed a taxi, as did many others. At first, we stood out front with lots of others. No luck. We then tried walking over two blocks to the area of Fiorella’s and still no luck, so we retraced our steps. Upon our return to the front of the Met, a guy told us to move up the street. And sure enough, success! We finally hailed a yellow cab to return to Sofitel ($12). Home by midnight!

Delta check-in was completed and it was 1 am…Good Night!

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 6

6:30 Alarm; difficult to get up, but our last day in NYC! We’ll catch up on sleep at home. Tom repeated yesterday’s fetching of Sofitel coffee and Pret a’ Manger croissants to get us going.

Sofitel-check out; store luggage; retrieve at Concierge any time. Then we’re off for the day.

9:15 ish We walked up to 5th Avenue for 10:15 Mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Earlier Tom had spotted the side of the NBC building from our hotel, so we took the street that led to it. We enjoyed another look at Saks 5th Ave. windows, right next to St. Patrick’s.

Inside St. Pat’s, people were already lining up for 10:15 Mass, although the 9:00 Mass was just finishing Communion. Tom decided to walk outside; Margie wanted to keep their place in line. . .with about a dozen or so others in front of her. We expected a large number of people at St. Patrick’s, but it was much more crowded than we expected, even given the number of Masses.

There was an orderly transition as the 9:00 people exited through the large middle double front door or side doors. Then we were permitted to enter for the 10:15 Mass. Unbeknownst to us (or probably others) a good portion of the front-middle rows were roped off, reserved for a group of boys from Chaminade High School (Dayton?) and seemingly their families. But Margie was able to get two seats in a pew about a dozen or so rows behind them. Tom later came and Margie did spot him. (Tom had sent a text; perfect use! But Margie did not turn on her phone thinking that she was in church! Forgot about texting! Duh!)

Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York City was the celebrant of the Mass. As Tom predicted, he ceremoniously walked down the aisle with a big grin, looking right and left at the people, as if he was in his glory and really enjoyed the up close and personal contact with people. Although the choir sang, much of the Advent Mass was a combination of choir and congregation. We stayed for the organ postlude.

12:00: Brasserie Ruhlmann-Brunch Reservation! It was a pleasant walk down 50th; a great location just across from Rock Center. The Brasserie had our reservation; we did get a table along the front side wall as requested. Again, we were happy that we had made reservations, as the restaurant was full and there were people waiting. The food, as usual, was tasty but the service was less than great. The wait staff was really busy, and we needed to repeat requests for bread and coffee.

Although the name doesn’t indicate it, Brasserie Ruelmann is FRENCH. However, its menu is more French-American. Tom had his fav croque madame; Margie had a ham/gruyere omelette.
After lunch. . .what to do? We were both were kind of “museum’d out”. So the MOMA and Whitney would wait for another visit. Finishing brunch, it was about 1:00. We thought about a boat cruise, taxi to Dock 83?; Columbus Circle? Bryant Park? Grand Central Terminal? More 5th Ave. window shopping? Just a few of many choices.

In view of the sunny, clear day we decided to visit the “Top of the Rock”. $30.00 each; Wow’! But we’re in NYC. . .it’s December. . .warm. . .a beautiful day. When might this repeat? We took full advantage of our visit by exploring all of the levels and taking in the sights in all directions.

By now, it was approaching late afternoon, calling for a repeat visit to Starbucks in lower Rock Center for our venti. We shared a table and a nice discussion with a couple from near Liverpool, ENGLAND. It was interesting to hear all about their enjoyment of their NYC visit.

Then, we had our last look at the lighted Rock Center, and another enjoyment of the skaters. Due to the large number of skaters, and the warm weather, the “ice patrol” had to go out more often and scrape the melting surface.

It was beginning to get dark, signaling the finale of our NYC holiday visit. We decided to head to Broadway Ave. to have our last look at the fabulous lights of Times Square. It’s not an area we like to frequent, but we know of few places we’ve visited which has the glitz, glitter, and energy of this area.
Peering in the Toys R Us window we could see a huge ferris wheel ride for kids.

After walking a couple of blocks from 45th to 43rd and back, and stopping in Nike and Swatch, we visited the Hyatt T45 Bistro for a light bite dinner, called for because of our ample brunch.

6:10 or so: Return to Sofitel: pick up luggage

6:30 ish Taxi to LGA for 9:20 flight. Terminal C. (Did't know until now that Delta had more than one!)
Gate Area is very basic. . .in lower lever. . .seats only. No WiFi!) Delta desk. . .constant announcements.

Finally. . .time to board: Oh no! Bus to plane. Stairs into plane!

Once on board, MK fell asleep pretty immediately. TK used Nano, and soon fell asleep.
Flight OK. Luggage arrived OK. Fast Park shuttle was waiting. Our Celica purred. About 12:30 we were home.

Another ending to a great trip. . .feeling ready for holiday festivities. Great to be home and sleep in!

denisea

Nice to catch this! We leave on Thursday for our pre-Christmas trip in NYC. We will see The Nutcracker at Lincoln Ctr and we are looking forward to the The Met (finally). The Morgan Library is on the list, so glad to read about it here!

We stayed at the same Sofitel a few months before our wedding and had a splendid time! Great memory and very nice hotel!

sf7307

I love Christmas in NY! Haven't been for a couple of years - I'll have to make a point of it soon.

maitaitom

"We were more than ready to have a nice meal at the Toledo Restaurant..."

Glad you made it there...Tracy and I almost went for lunch, but our feet were so tired we made a quick right off 5th Avenue and had lunch at Bryant Park. Did they have giant GinTonics? Great report...as always!

SueNYC

Great report! I was at the Guggenheim today. I usually don't love the place but the #Burri exhibit and the Photography exhibit really utilize the building well.

Burris use of materials is a nice contrast to Picasso the great recycler sculptures at MOMA. And, near the top the video of art created out of an Italian town devastated by an earthquake is a must see.

Best of all security and docent guards no longer have to spend their working life preventing you from taking pictures. They can actually talk about the art. Picture taking IS allowed!

A Guide Named Sue

tomarkot

Thanks to all for your positive responses to our NYC report.
Yes, New York City is a fun place!


Denisea, have a great time in NYC! I was disappointed that we missed Baccarat's. . .but we just couldn't fit it in. Tom and I will be eager to hear about your trip.

We did love the Sofitel as it sounds like you guys did.

We talked about switching out Radio City Music Hall for the Nutcracker on our next NYC holiday trip. Enjoy the performance!



Maitaitom, we know what you mean about "tired feet", a condition that affected a couple of our decisions.

We regret that we didn't check out the bar menu at Toledo's, but we can vouch for the food, and the nice atmosphere.

Thanks for reading our TR!

welltraveledbrit

Tomakrot - so glad to hear you had a good trip and got to enjoy some of this crazy weather! I was interested to hear what you said about the lines at ST patricks on a regular Sunday, i thought I'd try Old St Patricks for Christmas Eve Mass.

maitaitom

"We had set the alarm for 6:30. . .how did it come so quickly? "

And just think, on January 1 you will already have had four cups of coffee by 6:30.

tomarkot

Thanks for the tip about greeting the New Year very early! We'll be psychologically prepped! Early morning coffee will be a perfect "upper".

tomarkot

Welltravelbrit, we really enjoyed the "crazy weather".

I never heard of Old St. Patrick's in Lower Manhattan until you mentioned it, but it sounds like a good idea for Christmas Eve. St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th has been issuing tickets for the Midnight Mass since summer.

tomarkot

Welltravelbrit, we really enjoyed the "crazy weather".

I never heard of Old St. Patrick's in Lower Manhattan until you mentioned it, but it sounds like a good idea for Christmas Eve. St. Patrick's Cathedral on 5th has been issuing tickets for the Midnight Mass since summer.

Kathie

I enjoyed your account of your weekend in NYC. We keep saying we should fly there for a weekend, but it's a long journey form Seattle. I figure it's worth 4 or 5 nights...

tomarkot

Kathie, I'm sure that you'd love NYC, but agree that with the cross country travel, you'd want to stay for a longer time. NYC would be quite the opposite experience of Myanmar!!! We enjoyed reading about your recent trip.

jennyr261

Fun TR.....

Rockettes soldiers....big fat YES to that.

In the Guggenheim > Boo!

Cafe Sabarsky for breakfast - great idea (we usually go for lunch).

The Morgan Museum's cafe - yes we had that same sort of service. There's a guy on the Trip Advisor Forum who loves this cafe and I just think - what? no way! But love the rooms in the library itself and the Renzo Piano atrium.

St Pats sounds gorgeous - haven't been in there for years (at least while all that scaffolding was up).

We too are going to see "The King and I" on our next trip (early Spring) as we love, love, love Kelli O'Hara. We first saw her in the very cute "Nice work if you can get it" with Matthew Broderick and then saw her perform a song at the Marvin Hamlisch concert at Lincoln Center's Avery Fisher Hall on 2012's New Years Eve. She is incredible.

Thanks for the memories.

tomarkot

jennyr261, glad that our TR brought back some nice memories of NYC! There are so-o-o-o many things to do and explore in NYC. Hope we have a warm spring for your visit! We'll keep our eyes out for your experience.

jennyr261

Ha! I write a TR while I'm there and post it on another travel forum, along with sending it to friends back home in Oz via email. I must remember to post it here to Fodor's too.

We're also going to DC for a week and Philly for a few days. Only 12 days in NYC this coming trip - not the usual month over Christmas - New Year. It's lovely reading these TRs to hear about everyone's fun.

I see the temp has dropped to 6 degrees celcius. That's more like it. We're holed up here in aircon as it's just shy of 40 degrees celcius in Melbourne today.

Awenthomas

Hi Tomarkot,
Nice read.New York is really a good place for spending holidays with family or friends. Next year,
I have planned to there for holidays with family. Thanks for sharing your experience with us.

tomarkot

Jenny261, I just noticed that your home is in OZ, so the comments about a warmer than usual December weren't so appealing to you with your 40' C! But now they've dropped, so that's good for you. You have quite a nice trip coming up. In addition to NYC, we really like visiting DC a lot. As you no doubt know, both DC and Philly have wonderful art museums.

Thanks for your nice comments on our TR. And we wish you a fun-filled trip!



Awenthomas, your family will have something to look forward to for next Christmas season. Have fun planning! An activity which we think the whole family would enjoy is the Radio City Music Hall Christmas Spectacular. Searching around on different sites, it's fairly easy to find discount tickets.

Bostonblondie226

Really enjoyed your trip report. You packed so much in!

Love that Del Frisco's was on the itinerary. You should try Keen's next time - my fave

Totally great as well that you had an educational taxi driver who could talk about the buildings - I'm still on the look out for that, but am glad to hear it exists.

Also, unless you're a true loyalist, you should sample the coffee scene in NYC . . . so much more adventure to be had than Starbucks!! (although they are admittedly everywhere and quite reliable!)

denisea

Totally agree about Keen's! We went there on our recent NYC trip....terrific!